As children return from the Easter holidays today (April 22), 750 schools in England will open new free breakfast clubs, providing 30 minutes of morning childcare.
The new clubs which launched on Tuesday, are part of a trial that will run until July ahead of an expected national roll out promised in last year’s Labour manifesto.
In total, it’s thought the programme will help parents get up to 95 hours back a year and save them £450 annually, if their child attends every day.
The movement also means parents will no longer be “hamstrung by rigid school hours”, the Prime Minister has said.
Sir Keir Starmer explained: “The rollout of free breakfast clubs is a truly game-changing moment for families in this country.
“They mean parents will no longer be hamstrung by rigid school hours and have the breathing space they need to beat the morning rush, attend work meetings and doctors’ appointments, or run errands. And crucially, it means better life chances for children.
“By making these clubs free and universal, we’re doing something that previous governments have never done.
“We’re going further and faster to deliver the change working families deserve. That’s the change this government was elected to deliver.”
The government has said the 750 free breakfast clubs are a “key tool” to tackle barriers to learning in schools, with 500,000 primary school pupils missing at least one day of school every fortnight last year, one in every three pupils not ready to start school at age five and one in every 50 pupils suspended at least once...read more